Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: Krivoklat

This is the station blurring by. We weren't going so fast, but the rainy weather caused my cameraphone's shutter to slow down.

This was passing Hrad Krivoklat, the castle for Krivoklat, where I've been twice before, although this time I didn't stop there.

Since there wasn't any bell in this tower, I wasn't able to determine if it was a lookout, or what. I also took a shot a lot like this on my last visit.

Here's an another shot of the clouds and the town.

Here's another shot showing how low the clouds were relative to us, more or less on our level!

The gloomy weather wasn't always a disadvantage, however. As Hrad Krivoklat is on a hill, low lying clouds can add a little bit of drama to an image that would otherwise be nothing special. Below is the village of Krivoklat, and the rail line. The village dates to the 1400's, and I'm assuming the rail line to the 1800's, although I don't know the date of its construction.

This tower is always an interesting subject, although it would be nice if, from time to time, the sun would shine!

One advantage of this trip was that we seemed to be the only people to venture out into the rain to see Krivoklat, so it wasn't crowded at all, in sharp contrast to my previous trip when there was a busy Easter Market cramming the castle courtyard.

This was my second trip to Krivoklat, but unfortunately, just like the first, the weather was on the gloomy side. Nevertheless, to recap... Dating to about 1100, Hrad Krivoklat was rebuilt by Otakar II (1233-1278), Vaclav IV (who also spent his childhood here, born 1316, died 1378), and Vladislav (1456-1516). In 1422, it was involved in the Hussite Wars, and damaged, was subsequently used as a (brutal) prison by the Habsburgs, and then came into the ownership of the Furstenburg family. The Furstenburgs, who acquired the castle in 1773, restored it after it was badly damaged by a fire in 1826. The Furstenburgs lost control of the castle in 1929, although I've had a lot of trouble finding information on who had it 1929-1948. It's clear that since 1948 it's been owned by the government, first because the Communists nationalised all property, and next because the castle is now a National Cultural Monument (so as far as I know that implies public ownership).